Builder seeks Mission Viejo annexation for homes

Irvine-based Standard Pacific Homes on Monday will ask Mission Viejo officials to annex 40 acres into the city so the developer can build 84 homes on a portion of the land.

Standard Pacific approached the city in March 2011 with a proposal for the project and the annexation on El Toro Road just north of the city, which would require approval of the Orange County Local Agency Formation Commission. The builder plans to construct homes on 28.45 acres and the rest – 11.81 acres – would be left as open space, according to city reports.

The project, dubbed Skyridge, is opposed by some nearby residents who say it will affect quality of life. A local conservancy group says it is concerned about the project's impact on open space and on traffic it will bring to Santiago Canyon Road.

An environmental report on the project points out issues with air quality and traffic that can't be mitigated. Still, the city's Planning and Transportation Commission in December recommended approval of the proposal to the City Council.

The city would collect $1.78 million in one-time fees from the development and about $40,000 annually in property tax revenue, according to Michael Battaglia, vice president of project development for Standard Pacific.

AIR QUALITY, GRADING

Standard Pacific proposes to construct the project in 11 phases over two years, according to the environmental report. A year of that would be spent grading the site for construction.

While daily emissions from equipment used for the project would be within emission guidelines established by the South Coast Air Quality Management District, there are two two-week periods when emission thresholds would be exceeded, project consultant Peter Carlson said.

During those periods, 40,000 cubic yards of dirt would be hauled away, according to project documents. The hauling trucks don't meet the highest level of air quality standards, and modifying them to do so is too expensive for their independent owners, Carlson said, making mitigation infeasible.

Ronnie Romero lives in Hidden Ridge, just north of the proposed project. He said he doesn't understand why the city would allow a developer to tear down a natural hill and pollute the air.

"I can't see how they can build 84 units in that one spot, which made me think it's going to be crowded," Romero said. "There's going to be more pollution and a mess there."

Potential exists for a landslide on a portion of the project site, and part of the project includes stabilizing work to prevent the landslide "from ever happening," Carlson told planning commissioners in December.

TRAFFIC ISSUE

Carlson said the project will increase traffic modestly on Santiago Canyon Road, with eight vehicle trips during the morning hours and 11 during the evening rush, according to a traffic analysis.

"There is not a lot of traffic that's going to be added onto Santiago Canyon Road," he said.

However the roadway, which is under county control, already does not meet county level-of-service standards, and adding vehicle trips requires mitigation. Potential fixes such as widening the road were evaluated, or the developer could pay into a fee program to fund future fixes. No such program exists, however, and the county has no immediate plans to widen the road.

"The city cannot compel the county to make those physical changes to Santiago Canyon Road or compel them to adopt a fee program," Carlson said, though if a program were adopted, the environmental report requires Standard Pacific to pay into it.

Faced with this "significant environmental impact" the City Council will need to make a "statement of overriding considerations" to get past the traffic issue and allow the project to proceed, Carlson said.

Gloria Sefton, co-founder of Saddleback Canyons Conservancy, is concerned the city is taking too narrow a view. She pointed to Saddle Crest, a 65-home project up the road from Skyridge in Trabuco Canyon.

She said the addition of 84 homes on El Toro, which becomes Santiago Canyon, "obviously will have a tremendous impact."

Standard Pacific has agreed to add lanes on El Toro near the housing project's entrance to help alleviate traffic concerns there, according to Mission Viejo Community Development Director Chuck Wilson.

Still, Sefton said a comprehensive review of projects in the area is required.

"I don't think the EIR should be approved for the Skyridge project until an appropriate analysis is done, not only by the city of Mission Viejo, but by the County of Orange," Sefton said.

QUALITY OF LIFE

Romero said he's worried about the effect of Skyridge on wildlife, noting he used to see deer in the area but doesn't any longer.

"It's a shame that they're going to take away more wildlife there," Romero said.

Another Hidden Ridge resident, Brent Foy, said in a letter to the city that he's worried about the project's impact on privacy and property values.

"I'm extremely concerned about this development for the impact that it may create not only for our property values but also the current seclusion of our neighborhood from El Toro Road," he wrote.